WildStar on Steam or Landmark: Which MMO Launch Makes You The Saddest?

11/8/16

Think back, if you will, all the way to early 2014. On a late January evening, EverQuest Next: Landmark (as it was called then) opened its doors for the first time. Just before the servers went live, Dave Georgeson tweeted out the image of a counter that showed the number of live players — which was naturally at zero — calling it a screen he could “never show again.”

Today, Landmark officially launches. It’s no longer free-to-play, but you didn’t buy one of the exorbitant Founder’s Packs, you can get it for the low, low price of $10. I’d love to see that counter now.

At about the same time, WildStar hype was in full swing. Interest was sky-high, and prospective players were pumped for a new MMO from a new studio that seemed like a breath of fresh air in a crowded, stale MMO marketplace. About four months later, the game launched to great fanfare, was still doing a few months after launch, and then…
Carbine Studios daybreak game company Landmark ncsoft WildStar by Jason Winter | on June 10, 2016 | 9 comments | in Editorials

Think back, if you will, all the way to early 2014. On a late January evening, EverQuest Next: Landmark (as it was called then) opened its doors for the first time. Just before the servers went live, Dave Georgeson tweeted out the image of a counter that showed the number of live players — which was naturally at zero — calling it a screen he could “never show again.”

Today, Landmark officially launches. It’s no longer free-to-play, but you didn’t buy one of the exorbitant Founder’s Packs, you can get it for the low, low price of $10. I’d love to see that counter now.

At about the same time, WildStar hype was in full swing. Interest was sky-high, and prospective players were pumped for a new MMO from a new studio that seemed like a breath of fresh air in a crowded, stale MMO marketplace. About four months later, the game launched to great fanfare, was still doing a few months after launch, and then…

Yesterday, it launched on Steam. Sure, that could revitalize the game and give it a new life, but after everything it’s been through and all the other “[Change X] will revive it for sure!” statements, it’s hard to be optimistic.

So, my question for you, is: Which game “launch” makes you the saddest? Is it Landmark, with its promise of a greater future in the form of EverQuest Next? Or is it WildStar, full of hope and promise, quickly snuffed out by poor implementation and a mass exodus of players?